FDA advisers tied to industry - from USA TODAY

[Guest guest]

Thought everyone might find this article interesting.

It's short, but eye-opening.

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http://www.usatoday.com/news/washdc/ncssun06.htm 5/00

FDA advisers tied to industry

By Dennis Cauchon, USA TODAY

More than half of the experts hired to advise the government on the safety

and effectiveness of medicine have financial relationships with the

pharmaceutical companies that will be helped or hurt by their decisions, a

USA TODAY study found. These experts are hired to advise the Food and Drug

Administration on which medicines should be approved for sale, what the

warning labels should say and how studies of drugs should be designed. The

experts are supposed to be independent, but USA TODAY found that 54% of the

time, they have a direct financial interest in the drug or topic they are

asked to review. These conflicts include helping a pharmaceutical company

develop a medicine, then serving on an FDA advisory committee that judges the

drug. The conflicts typically include stock ownership, consulting fees or

research grants. Federal law generally prohibits the FDA from using experts

with financial conflicts of interest, but the FDA has waived the restriction

more than 800 times since 1998.

w/peace

wes bennett

wesbenn@...

<A HREF= " http://www.wesbennett.com " >wes bennett photography & design</A>

[Guest guest]

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> http://www.usatoday.com/news/washdc/ncssun06.htm 5/00

> FDA advisers tied to industry

> By Dennis Cauchon, USA TODAY

>

> More than half of the experts hired to advise the government on the safety

> and effectiveness of medicine have financial relationships with the

> pharmaceutical companies that will be helped or hurt by their decisions, a

> USA TODAY study found. These experts are hired to advise the Food and Drug

> Administration on which medicines should be approved for sale, what the

> warning labels should say and how studies of drugs should be designed. The

> experts are supposed to be independent, but USA TODAY found that 54% of

the

> time, they have a direct financial interest in the drug or topic they are

> asked to review. These conflicts include helping a pharmaceutical company

> develop a medicine, then serving on an FDA advisory committee that judges

the

> drug. The conflicts typically include stock ownership, consulting fees or

> research grants. Federal law generally prohibits the FDA from using

experts

> with financial conflicts of interest, but the FDA has waived the

restriction

> more than 800 times since 1998.